Greensboro Birds

Fun fact: Did you know that the Mallard’s head feathers are actually black? The green color is a prism effect. Green isn’t absorbed by the duck’s feathers, but rather is reflected back toward our eyes, so the feathers appear to be green. (In this same way, a blue jay does not actually have blue feathers at all!) The shimmering iridescent coloring is an effect that occurs when light enters a feather and interacts with the cell membranes of some colored regions. Twist your brain around that for a while, kiddies.